Gina Newsome Duncan, MD

Gina Newsome Duncan, MD

SPEAKER BIO

Dr. Gina Newsome Duncan is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at Georgia Health Sciences University (formerly Medical College of Georgia) in Augusta, GA. A native of North Carolina, she is a graduate of Hampton University in Hampton, VA and received her M.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, NC. Dr. Duncan completed her internship and residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/McLean Hospital Adult Psychiatry Residency training program in Boston, MA. In her fourth year of residency, she served as Chief Resident of Psychotherapy in the MGH outpatient clinic and was a recipient of the APA/SAMHSA Minority Fellowship where she worked with the APA Council on Communications. Dr. Duncan’s areas of special interest are: disparities in health and achievement that disproportionately affect minority communities, strength-based approaches to building resilience and self-worth, the intersection of spirituality and psychiatry, the use of media to impact the community, and motivational speaking and writing. While in residency at Harvard, with funding from APA/SAMHSA, she started a community-based participatory research project called Abundant Life Through Applied Resilience (ALTAR), which is a church-based mental health promotion program, and she is continuing that work at Georgia Health Sciences University.

OBJECTIVES

At the completion of this session, the participant will be able to:

1. Discusscommunity-based participatory research strategies that are being employed to address the mental health needs of the African American community through the church and other culturally-relevant, faith-based approaches.2. Employ culturally-competent strategies when treating African American patients by incorporating spiritual beliefs, religious practice, and community support into treatment plans.3. Describe the role the church plays in the African American community and the barriers as well as opportunities that exist for working with the faith community to improve the mental health of African American patients.